‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Lights Up With $13.5 Million Thursday

Igniting what should be a $100 million Stateside bow, Paramount’s “Star Trek Into Darkness” grossed $10.2 million on Thursday, for a domestic total so far of $13.5 million, including late-night and midnight showings.

Overseas, the sequel has reached $47 million with early bows in seven markets last weekend. The film expanded day-and-date to an additional 33 territories. Pic’s global tally is $60.5 million and counting.

Stateside prospects for the film look especially strong after Thursday; pic received a rare ‘A’ CinemaScore rating from early viewers, which is good since they tend to be most vocal driving word-of-mouth. “Into Darkness” could surpass predictions depending on how well it plays with families and non-fanboys.

The $190 million film, from Skydance Productions and Bad Robot, is the crown jewel for Paramount this year, with the studio banking on it working overseas.

Already, however, “Into Darkness” has outperformed its predecessor by more than 50% in key territories including Australia, Germany and the U.K. Last weekend, the sequel outgrossed the entire cume of the first film in Mexico. Par believes it’s reasonable to project “Into Darkness” will maintain a similar lead in other markets with 3D and Imax helping boost grosses.

The film currently is playing at approximately 3,800 domestic locations and has launched in nearly 50% of international territories.